General District Judge Archer L. Yeatts III convicted Price last week of a fifth offense of driving on a suspended license but refused to impose $750 in civil fees because he found them unconstitutional.

Yeatts said he could conceive of no rational basis for applying the fees to Virginia residents but not to out-of-state drivers in light of the legislative purpose set forth in Virginia Code § 46.2-206.1: “to generate revenue from drivers whose proven dangerous driving behavior places significant financial burdens on the Commonwealth.”

He asked Cooley today whether the legislature could have been rational in assuming that residents use state roads more than non-residents and that the state would have a much greater chance of collecting the fees from Virginians.

Cooley responded that there is “no reason to distinguish between an out-of-state and an in-state dangerous driver” in the context of providing money for transportation.